The Tampa Bay Lightning pay the team’s one and only visit to the SAP Center during the regular season in yet another test for this young San Jose Sharks’ squad. The Lightning are among the better teams in the NHL with a 24-13-3 record. That’s good enough for second in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the league.
This is Tampa Bay’s final stop on its California road trip, and the Lightning are going for the California sweep. The Lightning beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday and the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 on Thursday. In fact, Tampa Bay has won its last six games in a row.
While the two team’s are close together in goals for per game — the Lightning average 3.35 while the Sharks average 3.05 — they’re far apart when it comes to goals against per game. In that case, the Lightning allow nearly a goal per game less than the Sharks at 2.65 to 3.45.
The good news is that special teams could help in this matchup. The Lightning have 221 more penalty minutes this season than the Sharks, though many of those PIMs were racked up during the team’s throwdown with the Florida Panthers. The Lightning penalty kill is third best in the league at 83.7%. But it’s power play is comparable to the Sharks — San Jose’s is 21st in the league and Tampa’s is 22nd. The Sharks just might win today’s special teams battle.
The Lightning’s top scorer is Nikita Kucherov. He has 54 points in 36 games and is sixth in the NHL in scoring. Kucherov also leads the team with 19 goals. Close behind him is Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel with 18 goals apiece. In the net, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 15-7-2 this season. He has a 2.33 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. His backup, Jonas Johansson is 9-6-1 with a 2.83 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.
This is the first of two meetings between the two teams. They will meet again on Jan. 20 in Florida.
San Jose Sharks lines today
There will be a bit of line shuffling on the backend today. According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, John Klingberg is “doubtful” for today, while Timothy Liljegren is “probable.”
Klingberg doubtful tomorrow, Liljegren probable
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 2, 2026
If that’s the case, then we’ll swap Liljegren with Klingberg and keep everything else the same. On the front end, things stay the same.
Forwards
William Eklund — Macklin Celebrini — Igor Chernyshov
Collin Graf — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner — Ty Dellandrea — Pavol Regenda
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Dmitry Orlov — Timothy Liljegren
Mario Ferraro — Shakir Mukhamadullin
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Iorio
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Tampa Bay Lightning lines vs. San Jose Sharks
There’s no morning skate today, so we won’t get a preview of who will be on the ice before the puck drop. Ryan McDonagh, Victor Hedman and former Barracuda forward Scott Sabourin are all expected to miss the game with injuries. According to NHL.com, these are the lines the Lightning will likely ice this afternoon.
Forwards
Gage Goncalves — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel — Anthony Cirelli — Jake Guentzel
Zemgus Girgensons — Yanni Gourde — Pontus Holmberg
Nick Paul — Dominic James — Oliver Bjorkstrand
Defense
J.J. Moser — Darren Raddysh
Charle-Edouard D’Astous — Erik Cernak
Declan Carlile — Max Crozier
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
How to watch Tampa Bay Lightning at San Jose Sharks
The puck drops at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose.
Sharks fans can watch today’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Lightning fans can watch the game on The Spot or listen on 102.5 FM.
If you don’t have a ticket to the game, then be sure to come back here at game time and hang out with other Sharks fans to talk about what’s happening on the ice and around the league. There’s also the World Junior Championship, where Michael Misa, Joshua Ravensbergen and Leo Sahlin Wallenius are the remaining Sharks’ players in the tournament.
